Is this really unreasonable?

Malcolm.

mvengemvenge wrote: »

Why Labour spokesmen are complaining about this travel requirement, when they brought it in, I do not understand.

Because politicians are hypocrites who will use anything to their advantage. They don't let truth or fact stand in the way of a good political attack.

btw. what's the matter with your dog icons face?

mvengemvenge

Malcolm. wrote: »

btw. what's the matter with your dog icons face?

Reminds me of my ex - a miserable female dog (MSE won't let me post the actual word).

dopester

PasturesNew wrote: »

Edit: Just looked at the police, starting salary is more like £20k, not £27k - and it varies regionally. I do actually know somebody who was a fine upstanding and fit young person who actually wanted to get into the police about 8 years ago - and it took three long attempts, including having to go away for assessments etc before I think they even got a sniff of a 'maybe'. And, to do it, the training/training period was 100 miles away.

I also just checked recruitment for Devon & Cornwall Police: 0 vacancies - http://www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/JoinUs/Vacancies/Pages/Currentvacancies.aspx

It's a new world PN. Some would expect you to kiss goodbye to hopes of £3 an hour - well in the first year of employment anyway. Sort of ties in with with kabayiri's post about working for free. And aren't a lot of PCSO (or whatever you call them) positions under threat now with the spending review?

kabayiri wrote: »

I have recently managed to get work to agree to letting a relative of mine work with me, for "work experience" - ie for Free.

London Evening Standard
Met police recruits should work for free in first year, says report
Justin Davenport, Crime Editor Justin Davenport, Crime Editor
14.05.10

Scotland Yard is considering an overhaul of police recruitment to save millions a year in training costs.

Under the proposals, future police recruits in London would need to work as volunteer special constables for at least a year before they could apply to become full-time paid Met officers.

continues...

tomterm8

A year or so, I ended up using the busses because my car broke down and took a while to fix. It took me 25 minutes just to get to the centre of the nearest town, half the time the busess run to no foreseeable schedule, and they were dirty and smelly. I ended up getting a cycle - a ten minute journey.

Has this MP with his huge salary actually ridden on a bus? They are crap.

It is not unreasonable for someone to travel an hour journey, but it is unreasonable to expect an employer to be happy finding their new staff member regularly turns up at random times because the buses only run when they feel like it.

careinthecommunity

tomterm8 wrote: »

Has this MP with his huge salary actually ridden on a bus? They are crap.

probably not, but that [buses crap] is systematic of public transport, it isnt ideal but it still provides the service

tomterm8 wrote: »

It is not unreasonable for someone to travel an hour journey, but it is unreasonable to expect an employer to be happy finding their new staff member regularly turns up at random times because the buses only run when they feel like it.

bit of a sweeping statement, public transport is crap but it isnt that bad that we are in a situation where people are randomly turning up for work because buses only run when they feel like it.

but then obviously there are a lot of employers out there who are relaxed to the situation

tomterm8

careinthecommunity wrote: »

bit of a sweeping statement, public transport is crap but it isnt that bad that we are in a situation where people are randomly turning up for work because buses only run when they feel like it.

It may be they are better where you live. Here, buses really are that bad.

careinthecommunity

tomterm8 wrote: »

It may be they are better where you live. Here, buses really are that bad.

ok i made a sweeping statement myself, but there must be people who currenly work/live in your area and rely on public transport, the employers surely have some kind of relaxed attitude to the situation?

dopester

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

The country has become imbalanced, with most of the jobs and economic activity skewed towards the South. The problem, of course, is that there simply isn't enough room in the South to support the entire population.

It seems to me that really, there are only three choices.

Interesting options Hamish.

In some ways though we do have an advantage, with the UK being a small island. Jobs, commuting, death of some boom time industries... the challenges must be of a different order for many people living in some areas of the USA. Possible options for new employment often being many hundreds of miles away from their homes where the local economy is suffering.

Today, Tim Shumaker sees no such options. In past layoffs, he always found work somewhere; now there seems to be none anywhere.

So, like almost everyone else here, he's staying put, wondering whether Ravenswood could become a new kind of ghost town: a place where people stay, because they have nowhere else to go.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-01-townhangingon_N.htm

Jacey53

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Rubbish, new recruits to the police and fire service with no training or qualifications start on something like £27k. Trainee security guards in my company get £20k.

But the police and fire service will not be recruiting - they are public services and subject to cuts.

The main issue is that it is difficult for many people in rural areas to travel. Public transport is limited and sometimes non-existent and often doesn't fit in with working hours. For example, I live 20 miles from a city where tehre are numerous vacancies for skilled and unskilled workers. 10 miles from me is a smallish town which has a number of light industrial sites but few vacancies.

5 miles from me there are villages with one bus in the morning and one in the evening (some have none). Unless someone worked right near the bus station in the city then they would have to work short hours to be able to travel by bus. Parking is expensive and in short supply. Relocation would be out of the question - property in the city (including suburbs and outlying areas) is terrifically expensive whether renting or buying.

The bus service would get them into the town nearby and there is also cheap parking, but there are few jobs.

There is also the question of our infrastructure coping if everyone were to move to where the jobs are. Far better to move the jobs to the people wherever possible.

However the people who are most likely to be affected are in low-skilled, low-paid jobs which are generally hands on. Technology won't help as there is no possibility of home working.

Graham_Devon

Buses truly are awful.

I'm sure they are good in London, as is the tube, but they are simply no good here.

Theres 2 problems.

1. Not enough people use them.
2. Not enough buses at the right time for people to use them.

For example. A car I had previously decided to spew oil out of the gearbox, classic VW case cracking issue. So there was me merrily driving along and a whining noise started to happen. Dumped it at the garage I use, which is actually on the way to work and got me a bus.

I was 12 miles from work. 2 hours 20 mins later, I arrive at work. Fantasic. I also had to leave at 3.15 in order to get home.

It's not a direct route for the buses I will admit, but none of them seem to link up. Had to leave at 3.15 as in order to catch the bus home I had to be in another town and hang around for 45 mins. Then could catch the second bus I needed. BUT, can't catch one any later than 5.15, as there isn't one. If you miss that one, you then have to catch another, which takes you through 2 other towns, dumps you there, and you can then get a bus back to my town. In total, around 75 miles, roughly 5 hours, in order to do a trip which is bang on 20 miles and 30-40 mins in the car.

Buses all seem to stop after 5 or 6 if you want to go any further than the outskirts of any towns, or you want to go to a town that's not on the main line. On the main line, buses run up to 2am. But that's only covering a tiny part of the area.

They don't tend to run any earlier than school bus time, and they are filled with kids. But you get plenty after that (when you should be sat at your desk) with loads of people with bus passes using them.

Basically, buses cannot cope and are not made to get people to work, outside of London unless you live in a largish town, and work in the same largish town, or work on the main line. Outside of those variables, your totally scuppered. Half my work day (literally) would be spent actually getting there.

Cas IS king.